About the Website

My name is Carolyn Harkness, and I was elected president of the Canberra Preschool Society in 2005 and 2006.

In 2006, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government proposed the closure of one-quarter of all schools, Colleges, High Schools, Primary  Schools and Preschools. As the president, I was tasked by our members to stop the proposed closures of our Preschools.

Through a significant amount of historical research - I actually managed to achieve that objective.
This was only possible due to the unique way all government preschools were opened and operated. It turned out that this particular piece of history had been forgotten!

I  discovered that each Government Preschool was a joint venture between a pre-existing Preschool Parent Association and the ACT Government. If the Preschool Parent Association declared their objection, saying that the closure could not be enforced, the preschool would remain open.

This long-standing, perpetual joint venture led to the collective Preschool Parent Associations owning and maintaining all the ACT preschool teaching resources (worth just over $6 million) and the ACT Government owning all the buildings and providing the teaching staff.

The ACT Government's proposed closures were a sign that the current Preschool System needed change.

• The ACT Government maintained preschools that were no longer attracting feasible enrolment numbers.
• Parents were carrying a significant burden - one that would experience a considerable management turnover every twelve months!

This website was born of the research undertaken so that the history would not be forgotten and a valuable story of community endeavour would be remembered.